


One night at the time

by Elisexyz



Series: Turning page [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - The Enchanted Forest (Once Upon a Time), Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Introspection, Wish!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22583989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: Baelfire always sleeps between her and the window.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan
Series: Turning page [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1220651
Comments: 12
Kudos: 20





	One night at the time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Tumblr prompt: ["The bed is cold without you." + Swanfire](https://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/190721035769/the-bed-is-cold-without-you-for-swanfire). It fits into my series following the canon of the Wish!verse in s6 (so basically Enchanted Forest AU in which the curse never happened and Emma grew up with her parents), but I guess you can read it as a standalone Established Relationship + Enchanted Forest AU.

Baelfire always sleeps between her and the window.

Emma knew the story of how he came to live long enough to meet her way before they started sharing a bed, so, even though his frantic reaction when it was time to pick a side to sleep in startled her for a moment, it didn’t take long for her to connect the dots. It took even less for her to decide that she was perfectly fine getting used to sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, if that could somehow help.

(She may never truly understand what his life was like, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t try to hold his hand through it.)

Baelfire knows that nothing can get to them in there. He _must_ know, because Emma has repeated over and over that they are safe, that nothing would ever dare getting to them in her parents’ castle, that everything is _fine_ and he can sleep.

Sometimes, that doesn’t seem to help him any.

“What are you doing?” she asks, voice groggy with sleep as she tries to blink through the fog in her eyes to see him better. It would probably help if there were more light.

He turns to her, a little startled when she distracts him from the contemplation of whatever it is outside that’s compelling enough to make him sit by the window in the middle of the night, and his face quickly twists into a bit of a smile.

“Hey,” he says, softly. “Did I wake you?”

“No.” It’s not a lie: she’s fairly sure that she woke up on her own. Though maybe she did realize that there was something amiss, even if she wasn’t awake to see that half of her bed was empty. “Is everything alright?” she asks, pushing herself up on her elbows, though the cold makes her regret it when a chill runs through her.

“Yeah, yeah,” he’s quick to say, waving a dismissing hand. “I was just — I woke up and I wasn’t tired anymore.”

That’s a lie, one that is easy to catch even while half her brain is still asleep. He didn’t even look at her while he said it.

Yet, she’s learned that sometimes it’s best to rule her temper and avoid pushing.

“Alright,” she says then, lying back down on her side. “Come back here now, will you? The bed is cold without you.”

He looks at her for a long moment, but eventually he breaks into a warm smile. “Of course, my princess, as you wish,” he jokes, complete with one of his best bows.

“Moron,” she only replies, grinning wide enough to hurt while he slides back under the covers and she promptly scoots closer to go fit in the nice little spot under his chin.

He wraps his arms around her, taking in a big breath and squeezing her a little too tight. She doesn’t protest, because if he needs to strangle her to feel a little bit better, well, that’s a small price to pay.

She will just try to make him learn that he’s safe there, that they all are. One night at the time.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates comments, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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